Crashed car, bumper delete in ten seconds...

[gtjoey]

Bruce, first and foremost, happy to see your okay......Next if you do call the gtguys, If you pay for their time, Rich will fly out instead of you shipping it.....Its been done before..........Its all about the frame my friend..........Good luck , its a car......its a GREAT CAR....but its still a car........happy holidays...........enjoy everyday like its a holiday...........GTJOEY1314

 

[HHGT]

Bruce ,
You may want to forgo even going thru the insurance company.If they consider the car a total loss.( salvage title ).That would prompt me in to not filing a claim to avoid a salvage title.Of course that statement is all dependent on what Rich and Dennis have to say.
Best Regards,Ron

+1

 

[FBA]

Bruce,

Very sorry to hear; your calm review of facts is great for all of us. What were outside temps?

My math:

Given the rise in Heritage values, get it fixed; in3 yrs the car will appreciate that much in value alone. The past savings you have had in insurance and appreciation will cover cost of repairs. Mount the rear fascia as trophy.

That must be expensive insurance - I only pay 1800/yr for a 5 yr fixed value of 200k...I think the past premiums saved would only be fractional to the repair cost difference...

 

[Kayvan]

That must be expensive insurance - I only pay 1800/yr for a 5 yr fixed value of 200k...I think the past premiums saved would only be fractional to the repair cost difference...

Mostly appreciation; but then again to insure a heritage is 30%+ higher given $225k value

 

[Mullet]

Hopefully the clamshell is ok. That's a $18,000+ part.

I know of a similar or a little more damaged car and that one cost $60,000 to repair. Hate to be Debbie Downer but just trying to relay what I know.

 

[Ed Sims]

My GT was damaged worse than yours last year & was not considered totaled/salvaged by the insurance company. Call Shadowman to inquire how he got my GT back to new. I'm on the West Coast. The GT Guys are a good choose also.

Ed

 

[1434gt]

i have seen the gt guys bring this cars back to life again ,they do the best work

 

[HeritageBruce]

Bruce,

Very sorry to hear; your calm review of facts is great for all of us. What were outside temps?

It was in the high 50's under the morning sun, problem was probably because the road had a more pronounce crown than normal which I didn't notice until after the fact.

Bruce, as we discussed last weekend when you called, the damage to the car is very minor - hardly worthwhile IMO to justify transporting the car across the Country. The expense is in the panels and painting. In particular, both rear frame horns are damaged. These can be replaced OR you can do a RBD and likely save money in the process. Same for the bumper. The car needs a new rear butt skin and tail light - neither are inexpensive. The alignment of the rear now shifted over is very easy as there is just a C-shaped, 1" square halo bar that may need to be straigtened or replaced (it is NOT structural), and then you have (3) .5" round hollow aluminum rods per side holding the rear in position. The rear wheel has a busted toe-link (what you told me) and this also needs to be ordered.

Up front, you need a new nose piece (superficial, like the rear) and a new radiator. A new AC condensor might be in the cards as well.

80-90% of the cost to get this GT on the road again is in parts and paint. Labor is a minor part of the equation. JMO.

Kendall,
I'll be contacting you tomorrow after I speak to my insurance company and tell them I want a second opinion.

Bruce, sorry about the accident. Are you are still with the same insurance company? If you need help with the parts locally let me know I can help out. There is also a shop in Orange we can go see together if you like or I could possibly have him come to where the car is. He does some high end cars and his paint guy is really good.

Sam,
Thanks for the tip, I'll keep that in mind. Maybe your guy can handle the paint work while Kendall handle the mechanical work.

Hopefully the clamshell is ok. That's a $18,000+ part.

I know of a similar or a little work damaged car and that one cost $60,000 to repair. Hate to be Debbie Downer but just trying to relay what I know.

Clamshell looks ok to me as there's hardly any impact to the car at all. As the car spun around the corner of the bumper brushed up against a small tree which pulled the bumper off the the left support and then it snapped into two and the right half came off of the car. And then the rear fascia got pushed up a little and wedged against the clamshell but I don't see any damage of the clamshell itself. I hope I am right. As long as repairs are less than $40K, I'd be happy as that is still way less than my coverage which was the max. my insurance company would insure any car in their portfolio. Problem was I had been with them for decades and was too lazy to look for another insurance company to insure expensive cars and thought the insured value was enough for anything other than a total lost or I had the car stolen. But once I get the car fixed, and if I don't sell the car, I'd better look for a better policy for the car as this car's value will go nowhere but up.

 

[fjpikul]

Bruce, ask Spirit about the GTGuys work. His heritage was smacked up much worse than yours on the way to the Rally in Vegas. You'd never know now.

 

[Kayvan]

Yes, that crown in road is a doozy...in a number of incidents it was mentioned they just passed a dip and a crown.

With foot off acclerator or split second in 2nd gear engagement it loses force on rear wheels

 

[Fubar]

First, I'm glad you are in one peice. The old girl is tuffer than her exotic skin leads one to believe. I think the repair shop knows where your insurance company does it's auctions. I would definitely move toward fixing the car (bare in mind the resale value is damaged regardless).

Second, if your car is not insured for its actual value then how can your insurance company total it out? Ie: buy the title for less than the market value... sounds like a racket to me.

 

[RALPHIE]

...Second, if your car is not insured for its actual value then how can your insurance company total it out? Ie: buy the title for less than the market value... sounds like a racket to me.

Obviously - they would get the car for the underinsured amount, repair it and sell it for a profit; or sell it for a profit to a repair company who would then sell it for even more.

 

[steved57]

Bruce

Glad you are ok. I say keep the car and repair it. I bought my car damaged/wrecked and it looked a lot like your damage and the GT Guys have it back like it never happened.

Steve

 

[Fubar]

I’m not sure how your policy is written but if it states that a repair totaling more than 30% of the total value of the car is to be considered a full total then tell them to write you a check for %30 of their estimated value (and keep the car) OR just repair the car yourself and let your lawyer have at them. Texas department of Insurance usually leans toward the claimant. Espicially sense that whole hurricane disaster.

 

[HHGT]

Side question. Does lowering the car or modifying the suspension exagerate the dynamics of the GT when it encounters a road crown like Bruce's did?

 

[skyrex]

Been traveling and just saw your thread. So sorry for your troubles. I understand completely what you are going through as my car did almost the same thing but tried to take my foot off in the process. :bored I took 9 weeks to settle with the insurance company. Take your time and things will work out in your favor. It took a bit of negotiating but I got everything I wanted out of my old car. Best of luck. :cheers

 

[silver1331]

Bruce ,
You may want to forgo even going thru the insurance company.If they consider the car a total loss.( salvage title ).That would prompt me in to not filing a claim to avoid a salvage title.Of course that statement is all dependent on what Rich and Dennis have to say.
Best Regards,Ron

problem is even if it doesnt have a salvage title on it the accident will probably still show up on carfax/autocheck bc of the police report. I wouldnt forgo insurance but i would certainly try to take the max you can from them towards repairs that way you avoid salvage and at least get something from them

Also keep in mind some body shops report to Autocheck/Carfax which is annoying as hell. Usually they only do it if damage is $1500 or more but still its annoying especially in states where there is no allowance for diminished value.

 

[roketman]

problem is even if it doesnt have a salvage title on it the accident will probably still show up on carfax/autocheck bc of the police report. I wouldnt forgo insurance but i would certainly try to take the max you can from them towards repairs that way you avoid salvage and at least get something from them

also keep in mind some body shops report to autocheck/carfax which is annoying as hell. Usually they only do it if damage is $1500 or more but still its annoying especially in states where there is no allowance for diminished value.

good point

 

[SYCO GT]

Very sorry to hear of the incident Bruce, but glad that you are safe!

 

[HOOKED ON GT]

I had a chick hit me about 3 months ago and that was about 20K and just got it back.
Makes me think that I need to know the value of my car.
How do you find about about GT values.
I need to see what $ I'm listed at with my insurance company. (just less then 3,000miles on it)

Good luck, hope you get to feel better about some of the options put forward.
Stuart A